I saw it and, like you, can't get it off my mind. I think it goes way beyond "having kids you can't afford, etc." I was left with the impression that this lifestyle leads to depression and hopelessness and this is not always easy to overcome. Even one of the children commented that she feels her mom is on drugs because of despair. I think we'd better not judge them until we have walked in their shoes. It is only by the grace of God that most of us here were born into loving families with resources to give us all of the opportunities that these people lack.

The young boy in the beginning (the football star) had a chance to break out and couldn't make it in college and came back. I don't think we have seen the last of him, however. I feel certainly that someone who has watched this program will step in and help him. Diane Sawyer did a similar show on life in the city of Camden, NJ (10 miles from me) a few years ago and there was a tremendous outpouring of help for the families featured in that program. I hope this program will do the same for the people of Appalachia.